Deception to Truth
by Crystaline-Viper
Summary: After seeing murdered victims of a stealthy killer almost everywhere she goes, Quistis turns to the only one she can... RR! rated for later chapters.
1. Blood Queen

Title?

A/N- Hey, this is my first fanfic that I'm actually going to finish for a change. Also the first that I'm putting on So, this is based on Final Fantasy VIII, two years after the destruction of Edea. This will include some (but not all) of the characters from the game and only a few of my own. And please, if you find this first chapter too gory, please don't read the other chapters. This is rated R for a reason. )

**Chapter 1** Blood Queen

_-The streets were empty and quiet that night. So quiet that even the whimper of a small, bruised child could've been heard if the right people had listened.- _

The round perfect-circle moon hung tranquilly in the sky as it normally did. It would've been a breath-taking sight, if it wasn't for the shrouding, silhouetted clouds. It made everything on the ground below seem so dead. The air was moist and windless. Groups of leaves sat soundlessly along abandoned streets, as if they were people waiting to see a good play tonight. The buildings surrounding the street leered inwards towards the street, casting long foreboding shadows that could've warned even a simple cat not to stray out that night .  
The clouds slowly made their passage across the somewhat starry sky, letting light from the moon's blushing face spill onto the dark pavement ever so often. Finally, small noises echoed into the street. Footsteps and female's weak shrieks of sullen fear. The steps were struggled and uneven as they made their way into the road. If only somebody, anybody, was awake to hear her.

Moonlight trickled onto the blond girl's hair, as it then made it's way down tear-stained cheeks as she became more visible in the street (only because the clouds were generous enough to let some peeks of moonlight through). Her eyes quickly flashed with fear and dread as she lost her weak footing and fell down onto the streets panting heavily, wincing as if her lungs were caving in. Beads of perspiration dripped down her pale skin but she had no time to contemplate what to do next, as a young man had accompanied her all too soon.  
The girl clawed at the street to maybe, just _maybe_ hoist her limping body up to escape her awaking fate, but her plan of action was immediately halted to a stop as the man dug a large, brown boot into the small of her back. The girl squeaked pitifully and collapsed with agony as he pressed harder on her back, purposely applying just enough pressure to make her unable to utter a single cry of help. Her throat was too clogged for usage anyways, by the blood that was building up in her lungs. Her shaking fists clenched as her pale lips made out a silent word of prayer. But the only noise that came out of her, was the soft snapping of her back.  
Finally her cruel capture took his boot off her of back, but as he did so, he violently kicked her in the side so she lay on her back. The girl looked at him, softly choking and wheezing to get air past the blood that was caught in her throat. Some of it was already welling up and dripping out of the corners of her mouth. It was obvious she wanted badly to escape the clutches of such inhuman torture, as anyone would, but her bruised and battered body couldn't handle to save her anymore.

The man sickly stared down at her, but she could only stare back into his soul-lacking eyes, as she continued to cough of globs of thick, warm blood. Her useless arms and legs twitched ever so slightly in a mad fury to get up. She had to get out of there. The man watched her for a moment more, savoring the last of his fun with her. It was now time to finish his prey off. He decided to end this game by quickly straddling himself onto her chest, pressing himself painfully against the girl's stomach, causing her to violently spit up more liquid. She squirmed in a futile attempt to get his weight off of her meek frame, although even she knew she was done for.

All hope is lost.  
He slowly, as if willingly taking his time with her, slid a thick, curved knife out of his coat pocket. She watched with horror as he did this, yet she was thankful she wouldn't have to suffer through this much longer. Her tears had stopped by now, as she was out dry. She had cried so much that night... for her family, for her friends, for the future she'd never have. She was, after all, only 16.

The man finally, after what seemed like hours, plunged the knife straight into her throat so far in, it went through the back of her neck and hit the street with an almost inaudible _chink_. She chokingly gasped and her blood sprayed and blotted the man's shadowed face, but he carelessly wiped it off with the sleeve of his coat. As for the blood around his mouth. . . He licked it off.

Knowing that she couldn't speak now or ever again, he carefully got off her, as to not disturb her dying process. She bled, bled, bled until she could bleed no more, crimson trailing down the street and pooling around her head for her hair to soak up. The man waited until her eyes were finally glazed over and ever-staring before he picked up her sickly limp body. He slung the girl over his shoulder as if she were naught but a doll and made down the street, a calm, yet so menacing grin plastered on his sunken features. A grin of victory to the very first victim to trigger so many more. . . Soon.

I see you.


	2. Surprise Visit

Title?

A/N- After a while on thinking up chapter 1, I finally came up with it and the plot. ) Please, I don't own any of the characters in this except for a very few. This Fiction is based off of Final Fantasy VIII, but I will only be using a few of the characters from that game. In total, only a few characters will be in the Fiction. -shrug- Enjoy, if your tummy can handle my mild detail.

**Chapter 2** Surprise Visit

Quistis Trepe fell with a strained sigh onto her living room couch and laid her head back to look up at her very white ceiling. Her heavy blue eyes threatened to close on her as she lay in thought, wondering why exactly her life had gone so far down hill and the rest of her friend's lives had moved so far up. While Quistis was stuck in her rather small house, the rest of her friends had moved on; switching houses, getting marrying, working elsewhere, and pushing Quistis out of their memories. That's right, Quistis wasn't even more than a memory to _ them _ now.

She sat up again and grabbed the cup of coffee that was sitting on the small table that was in front of the couch, absentmindedly stirring the lukewarm fluid with the tip of her index finger. Her eyebrows twitched into a scowl as she thought of Irvine and Selphie, happily living together at Trabia. She thought of Zell, who lived across the street from her, yet never bothered to stop by to at least say a simple _hi_. She also thought of the pregnant Rinoa, who'd recently got married to. . . Squall.

Quistis should have been happy for Rinoa and Squall when they got married, but she was only even more mad when she heard that Rinoa was expecting a baby. Neither of the happy couple had even bothered to sent Quistis a letter announcing the news. She didn't even receive a simple phone call. But even so, Quistis refused to contact any of her 'friends' about this or anything else. Why? Because she'd tried to reunite herself with them so many times in the past and was denied. Besides, her dignity wouldn't allow any more of it.

But maybe that was Quistis's problem. Could it be she was still hopelessly clinging onto past memories, hoping to one day relive them? Even hoping that new evil would arise so she could fight along their side again? The chances were great that she wanted that, she knew. Although, even if something bad did happen, she doubted she would fight with them again. Only she, Rinoa, and Squall still worked at the Balamb Garden, and the last thing Quistis wanted was to hang around those two lovebirds until the evil was defeated. They would probably be kissing and fluttering their eyes the whole time anyway. Love is for the weak.

It's not like she ever had those feelings before. And after being rejected by Squall, she gave up trying to ever find those feelings. Such "power" was obviously not meant for Quistis.

The blond got up and rubbed her temples, trying to spare herself of the pounding vertigo that for forming in her head from standing up a bit too fast. After letting it wash past, she walked to the sink and poured the still-full cup of coffee down the drain and made her way to the bathroom for a cool shower to get the thoughts and beloved memories out of her busy mind.

The people closest to you are the people who hurt you most.

She reached the bathroom door and stopped just outside of it to pick up the bathrobe she left there earlier for the shower. She looked at the pink material in her hands, remembering the day Selphie gave it to her for a Birthday present just after they'd had their victory party for defeating the Sorceress Ultimecia. Quistis glared a little at it and slung it over her shoulder. She then rested her pale hand on the bronze doorknob of the bathroom.

And her heart stopped cold in her chest.

A few seconds after she put her skin against the knob, she snatched her hand back and yelped with fright. She blinked and stood, staring at the door for a few minutes, wondering what on Earth she just felt to make her react in such a way. After pondering this for a long time, she finally distinguished a lurking feeling in her gut that told her not to go into the bathroom. But of course, she found no logical reason of why this would be. What could possibly be in her bathroom? Nothing, was the answer to that. Maybe the coffee was kicking in now, she figured silently.

But she'd consumed no coffee.

Quistis shook the stupid feeling off and opened the door to her bathroom. Her eyes then widened as she gazed around her bathroom. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it at all. Everything was in place and as peaceful as it could've been that moment. She silently scolded herself for being such an idiot and walked into her bathroom, closing her bathroom door behind her. What had she expected to see in here anyways, an abominable bar of soap?

She hung her bathrobe up on the door handle and proceeded to undress, still snickering at herself for acting so foolishly. When she had finally removed her last undergarment, she stepped over to the shower and slid the sliding glass door. But suddenly she knew something wasn't right.

A sickening smell rose to her nose almost immediately, causing her to wrinkle it and clumsily stagger away from the shower in disgust. Quistis leaned over to the shower and quickly grabbed the handle to the sliding door and slammed it shut as to at least attempt to get rid of the smell, if not only a little. She glared and stood there taking in the foul smell which was still lingering in the air, wondering where it was coming from and why she'd never noticed it before. She could've sworn it smelt like decaying human flesh, if it wasn't blunt enough. After all, she knew that smell all too well from her adventure two years ago. But then again, her bathroom was white, spotless and bodiless. Finally she figured it was just the toilet or pipes acting up. She'd call the plumber later on so he could find out the source of such a smell. Or perhaps someone on the floor above her had died. Whatever it was, she'd let the plumber handle it.

But then it hit her.

The vents, maybe? What a wild guess' she thought, but it was worth a look, just to make sure since she'd distinguished the smell coming strongest from her ceiling. Quistis opened the sliding glass again and stepped into the shower, gazing up at the vent above her head. It was too high for her to reach. She quickly stumbled out of the shower and grabbed the stool that was in the corner of her bathroom, picking it up and setting it in the shower carefully. When she figured it was safe enough, she climbed on top of it, her heart hammering in her chest with anxiety to find out the secret smell she thought was in her vent.

Quistis rammed her fist into the loosely screwed vent metal, giving it away and causing it to fall very close past her head and slamming on her bare foot. Quistis hardly noticed the pain though, as she was too distracted by the mystery up above to feel or hear her toe crush. But when she finally looked into the vent, the rest of the pain that was in her foot stopped immediately and her whole body numbed. Everything real around her became fake as her head swirled into blurs of color and her feet gently began to slide off of the stool.

I see you.


	3. Swollen

Title?

A/N- Wow, at the writing rate I'm going at this fanfic is going to take a long time to finish. But school and social life have been taking over quite a bit recently, so yeah. I'll just keep writing whenever and maybe in a year or two it'll finish. -sigh-

**Chapter 3** Swollen

Quistis's lips parted as a small sigh slid out. Where was she? What time was it? Her eyes slowly opened, then shut again. Everything was far too blurry to be made out. She waited another minute before she opened her eyes again, blinking hesitantly. Quistis laid for another minute as she let her vision adjust to the bathroom ceiling. Ah, so that's where she was...  
Her fucking bathroom.  
Quistis's eyes widened as memories flooded back. How long was she out since she saw that... that damn thing in her vent!? Quistis lifted her head an inch off of the floor of her shower before slamming it back down again, wincing. She'd obviously hit her head pretty hard for it to be hurting that much. A headache quickly found it's way into her skull as she squeezed her eyes shut in pain. Her stomach churned violently as if it had a mind of it's own as she began to remember the details of the horror that laid quietly in her vent.  
What she saw was so repugnant, it even took her a minute to distinguish it as being human. What was in there, was in fact the remains of a naked young woman. The girl's head was propped against the vent apparently on purpose so that when Quistis opened the vent, the head would slide off of the vent door to hang out from her neck at an awkward angle. Well, when Quistis opened it, that's what happened. When the vent was opened, the sick killer's plan to scare the living hell out of Quistis worked. It exposed the ripped open skin around the girl's neck, which had dried with time and curled back to reveal the red insides of her throat. The girl's eyes were flipped back revealing only whites and her pale lips were curled into an innocent smile. Her face, neck, and chest was littered with small cuts and lines which spelt out vulgar words and phrases, such as 'Bitch' and 'Necrophilia recommended'. One of them stuck hard with Quistis, even after she'd passed out.  
Blonde whores come first.  
The rest of her body was hidden in shadow, to Quistis's relief. She didn't want to know at all what else was carved over the poor girl's naked form. Quistis covered her mouth with her hand and threw up as she sat up violently, taking in the familiar scent of rotting flesh. She squirmed and got up on her knees quickly, ignoring her broken toe and her pounding headache. With a lot of trouble, Quistis managed to get to her bathroom door to get her robe, and then all the way out of her bathroom using only one hand and one foot to crawl out, since she couldn't use the foot with the broken toe and her other hand was too busy suppressing vomit. Quistis stood up and though her toe was biting painfully and her knees were shaking, she grabbed the handle to her bathroom and slammed it closed as fast as she could, before twisting around and sliding down against the door into a slump. She buried her head in her hands and let tears fall down her cheeks.  
Who the fuck would do this to her? What kind of fucking pervert knew her or even watched her enough to find out where she lived to do this? She knew nobody that hated her enough, unless some sicko had been watching her and did this for his own amusement. This, she could believe since she knew there were some seriously twisted people out there who did this kind of thing for entertainment, to show off to their friends, or for their own demented sexual pleasure. Maybe the guy was into Necrosadism. Quistis shivered as she thought more about the topic, her head raising from her hands in thought. She knew she was acting weak right now, for the real Quistis was strong and could take it all on. She was after all, an instructor and a widely respected one at that after the war with Ultimecia. But this was just cruel, leaving the torn body in her vent with all those gross comments on it. And the girl, she could've been at least 16 or 17, Quistis judged.

The shaken blond sat against her bathroom door for a few minutes or a few hours, she didn't know. Time seemed so surreal right now to tell anyways, as did everything else. But that was besides the point. Quistis had cleared her mind (or tried to) over and over again while she sat there and let her pulse edge down to a normal pace. When she was sure she was feeling at least a little better, Quistis began to slowly stand. It took her a few hard tries, but finally she was steady on her feet. Now Quistis needed to plan what to do next about this. Whoever put that in her vent knew her or had seen her enough times to do this and knew where she lived. It couldn't have been random... Could it?  
The small blond glared at the bathroom door. Whoever did this would have to deal with her soon, if she could find who it was. When she did find the ass behind this, boy would she let them have it for traumatizing her like that. Quistis strode away from the bathroom door and to her kitchen her fists clenched with anger and fright whilst ignoring her throbbing toe. She went over to her kitchen cabinet and grabbed a small can of pepper spray she always had hidden back behind a large bowl she kept. Quistis had tons of these cans everywhere she could at all time. One could never be too careful in times like these. After safely pocketing the can, she limped to her bedroom. When she got there, she stopped outside of the door, her toe getting the best of her finally. She couldn't walk much more with this mental and physical pain. Her slender fingers grasped the handle to her bedroom and she opening it, limping blindly over to her bed. With an exhausted sigh, she let her body fall loosely to her comfortable bed...  
I see you. 

_ The tired woman's brow furrowed with annoyance and confusion as her body didn't hit something soft.. Like a bed or a pillow.. But rather_ _ hard and lumpy. Perhaps she left (a lot of) her clothes on her bed and forgot to move it. Well, whatever it was, it was under her blankets. . . But why? She sighed heavily and slowly rolled over off of the large frame in her bed. Still glaring, Quistis wrapped her fingers around the top of her covers and pulled them down.  
"Jesus Christ. . ."  
Her eyes widened as far as her lids would allow as her heart immediately skipped a beat. There was no way. . . This couldn't be happening, or for that matter, even possible. A scream built up in Quistis's throat but she couldn't make a single noise; she couldn't even breathe. She looked at the fresh bloodied up corpse in her bed a moment longer. . . Who ever killed it, fucking skinned it. Not even the eyelids remained. The thing's frozen expression made it obvious that it felt every moment of it's skin being inch-by-inch removed, as it's mouth was contorted into a gaping hole and it's fleshless hands were tensed open. She couldn't tell if it was male or female yet; it hardly even resembled a human. . . But inside she knew it was probably once a female._

Quistis's eyes flew open, awaking abruptly from the dream, and she violently rolled out of her bed as fast as humanly possible. She tore swiftly and rather surprisingly fast out of her corrupted bedroom and straight out of her apartment, not even thinking twice to get dressed or grabbing her keys or anything. All she wanted was to get out of there NOW, no matter the cost. She just needed to escape. . .  
The mentally-torn blond stumbled out of the apartment building and onto the streets, crying and yelling like a mad woman, making shocked passerby's stop and stare at her. It all finally built up in her so much, she'd lost all control of her mind and body and couldn't handle it anymore. She grabbed her head and ran into the night, screaming out her feelings of helplessness and insanity. She didn't notice or even care about the few people who were staring at her, or even about her calm reputation. She only needed to escape the madness and adrenaline. . . She needed to escape and be free of this hell. . . Within a few more minutes of reckless running (even though her broken toe was causing her much pain)

and screaming, her body gave up and she quickly blacked out.


	4. Stress Replacement

Title?

A/N- WHOA, a new chapter complete! Toga toga toga! -throws a victory bash- .

**Chapter 4** Stress Replacement

_Quistis opened her eyes and found herself standing upright as if she never fell down and fainted at all. Just as if she'd been standing there in her apartment all along. Was all of this really real? Was she finally free now of this hellish inferno? Maybe she'd hallucinated everything. Quistis pinched herself briefly to make sure this was what it really was. . . But the results she half-expected and wholly wanted didn't come. Instead in her dark, dank apartment, her lamps and sources of lights started to flicker eerily. It was as if her house was alive. Quistis looked at her television as a look of horror spread across her pale features as it turned on and off; from a loud static to black. She felt panic rise in her throat, but she had to keep a clear head if she wanted to get through this. She couldn't faint like last time, she knew she was all too vulnerable when that happened. Quistis's fists balled up and she squeezed her eyes closed tight, beads of sweat forming on her forehead and cheeks.  
When she was sure she was still sane and going to get through this while keeping her mind, she opened her eyes and came face to face with a girl who had no eyes. Just ever-black sockets. She didn't know how the girl got there, but she was certainly there and dangerously so. Quistis's eyes darted down the girl's body and found that the girl also had a knife in one hand. The girl did the same to Quistis, tilting her head down to look (even though she had no eyes). Then after she did so, the girl looked back up at Quistis's face, the small black line on her face called a mouth contorting into a deep frown. The girl lifted her bruised and cut up hand all the way up to Quistis's face, and then pointed down for Quistis to look at herself too. Quistis looked at the girl's hand pointing downwards, then looked back at the girl's face. The girl didn't seem hostile at the moment. . . Actually almost friendly. Almost as if she was trying to help.  
Quistis did what the girl motioned her to do, slowly lowering her eyes down herself. She then saw her own body was ripped up and bruised the same as the girl's had been. Quistis's body wasn't robed as she'd left it, but naked and cut up, her blood spilling everywhere, running down her thighs and legs making a dark pool around her feet. Quistis's eyes flickered shut again and she dropped down to her knees in defeat. She was through, even from the very start. The killer knew she was done too, she figured. There was no reason to fight anymore. . . Everyone lives in vain and dies in vain, but not everyone seemed to realize it the way Quistis did. But Quistis knew. . . In the end, all you have to lose or gain is nothing. You just end up becoming one of them.  
Quistis didn't cry out when the girl's knife cut deeply into her bare back, warm crimson dripping thickly over her shoulders and down her sides. The girl carved and carved into the blonde's back and Quistis could feel her life seeping right out of her skin, but still she didn't cry or even whimper. She'd already accepted her fate. Quistis's body finally collapsed after the girl stopped and she curled up in pain. After shivering and laying in her own sticky blood for a few more seconds, she fell deeply asleep. Asleep, only to wake up next day and find she died._

Soft morning sunlight danced across Quistis's cheeks and dappled against the white walls of her room as her blue eyes slowly opened.  
"Uhhhn?" She sighed in question as she yawned and sat up, stretching. This certainly wasn't her room. Where was she? What did she do last night? She swung her legs over the side of the bed and blinked. She was in her bathrobe. Now Quistis was really curious as to what happened last night, she being almost naked and in a room not of her own. . . After a bit more thinking, her past finally reflected back into her mind as quick and as sharp as a needle piercing skin. . . She remembered everything. Even the horrible but oh so real dream she had last night.  
Quistis's eyes suddenly darted up at the door as someone knocked and she made haste to cover herself with blankets. A soft voice hesitantly broke the silence.  
"Are you alive in there?" Quistis thought for a moment, debating whether she really was or not, then nodded.  
"Yes. . . Physically. . . You can come in if you want." She replied and the door opened. A young man walked in and shut the door behind him, looking at Quistis with concern. He looked to be in his very early twenties, if not late teens, with short dark brown hair and eyes a deep hazel hue. His shirt was untidily unbuttoned half way down his collar and his hair was rather tasseled, making it look like he just woke up as well. Quistis watched him curiously as he walked over to a chair next to the door and sat down. Quistis played with a ring on her finger as she studied him, her brows slightly furrowed in thought.  
"Not to be rude, but where exactly am I, how did I get here, and who are you?" She asked simply but firmly. The man smiled at her briefly.  
"So many questions. But you have every right in the world to ask them. It looks like you've been through quite something lately." He said calmly and Quistis nodded in agreement.  
"Yeah.. Something. Now please, can you answer me?" She asked, impatience and urgency edging in her voice. The man seemed to take the hint and he leaned back in his chair.  
"Right now you are still in Balamb. This is just another apartment complex near yours. You got here because I found you passed out in some alley way. . . I was coming back from the store and I saw you just laying there. At first, I thought you were dead so I ran over to you to check your pulse and make sure. But, I realized you were alive and in serious condition. . . So I took you back here to rest. I'm happy you made it through the night." He finished with a smile. She returned the smile, but however that only sprung up more questions. Why didn't he call an ambulance instead?  
"Thank you for your kindness, I really appreciate it." She said softly and he winked back at her in welcome.  
"Are you feeling better? Do you want something to eat or drink?" He asked casually, rising out of his chair. She blinked, then nodded.  
"Well, if it isn't any trouble I'll just have water." Quistis said politely, she not being a fan of accepting too much. She was an independent woman, and always would be one. Besides, he already helped her enough and went out of his way to ensure her safety. She would feel terrible making him work more for her.   
"That's nonsense, I'm sure you're starving. You should eat something anyways, so you can regain some of your energy. Do you like pancakes?" He asked raising his eyebrows and walking over to her and offering his hand to her. Quistis, taken almost by surprise, accepted the helping hand and stood up with a great deal of trouble. However her knees, still shaky, gave out immediately after he let go of her and she fell. His reflexes were inhumanly smooth though, and he caught her inches before she hit the ground. He sat her on the bed again and smiled lightly at her like that kind of thing happened everyday. But she could only gape at him, curiosity evident in her brooding eyes. What a nice person. . . Willing to do these things for her and she had no way in her knowledge of repaying him. And such reflexes.

About an hour or more later of much talking with this man about what happened to her (although she didn't mention anything about the body being in her vent), they finally moved to the living room so he could cook and still talk to her easily. Quistis continued to play with her ring as she watched him from her seat on the couch. He appeared to be a good cook, she observed. He was quick in the kitchen and seemed to be very efficient too. The food was all in easy-reach places. All of his knives were all out in accessible slots on the counter. He sure had a _ lot_ of knives, she noticed. Maybe he was a professional cook.  
Well, what he was doing for her was very nice indeed, but she had things to get done and people to contact. Last night's crisis was still very fresh in her busy mind, especially after talking about it so much. Quistis yawned and rubbed her eyes, still sleepy. When she opened her eyes again, the man was standing right in front of her. Quistis jumped, startled.  
"Goodness, you're fast." She said, her brow cocked slightly in surprise. He merely smiled at her and leaned down, handing her a fork and a plate with pancakes and strawberries on it. She blinked, then smiled warmly at him.  
"Thanks again, you're very kind." She said softly, still smiling. He grinned at her.  
"No problem whatsoever."  
Quistis smiled up at him again, then impaled one of the pancake slices with her fork. After doing so, she looked up at him again. He was still watching her, and still leaning towards her. She shifted slightly, her eyes flickering down to her breakfast, then back up to him. He still continued to stand there. Quistis cleared her throat to break the awkward silence.  
"Aren't you going to have something too?" She asked blinking, then cocking her head to the side.  
"Eventually yes, but I'm not very hungry right now. You eat up though, I'm sure you're terribly famished." He replied, then standing up straight again. He then walked to the side of her and slumped down next to her on the couch and turned on the TV with the remote that was sitting on the table next to the couch. Already, the channel was on the news channel. He smiled, then set down the remote again. Quistis stuck the fork in her mouth, glancing around his apartment. He seemed like a very tidy person. Everything was clean and perfectly organized and decorated. Well, everything except for the newspapers all over the place. Newspapers on his shelves, on his table, even a few on the floor. The man then got up off of the couch after she swallowed the piece she ate.  
"Hey, I'll be right back. I have to go check something... By the way, I never did catch your name." He smiled at Quistis. "I'm Andrew."  
Quistis glanced back up at him, then at the newspapers again.  
"My name is Quistis Trepe. It's a pleasure to meet you." She said and he began to walk away. Under his breath, Quistis could almost make out words as he was leaving.  
"No, my dear... The pleasure is all mine."

After he was out of the room, Quistis immediately hoisted herself up and walked over to a pile of newspapers that was laying on the ground next to the TV, although her toe was still throbbing from last night. She crouched down and studied them. All of them were turned to the pages about murders. She raised her eyebrows, then got up and walked to one of the tables that kept newspapers. All of them were about murders too. Why the hell was this guy collecting papers about murders?  
"Interesting..." She murmured quietly in thought.  
Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming back into the living room. Andrew's footsteps. Quistis quickly tiptoed back to the couch and resituated herself, propping the plate back on her lap. Andrew walked in seconds later, smiling at her.  
"Andrew, look, it's very nice what you've done for me, but I'm afraid I must leave now. I have a mess to clean up back at my place." She said, setting the plate of food aside and starting to stand up. He nodded and walked up to her, offering her a helping hand. She looked at it, but there was just something about him untrustworthy. She shook her head at him, smiling, and stood up.  
"Hey, do you want to call the police at my house right now to get this mess out of the was faster?" He inquired softly, watching her. She stopped and looked at him curiously. If he was a killer like she suspected, why would he offer for her to do a thing like that? Well, he'd have his way then and hopefully get caught if he was the killer. She could play that game. She pursed her lips together and nodded.  
"Yeah, that would be good."

Quistis and Andrew sat on his couch for not long, until the cops arrived. Andrew quickly got up and answered the door at the first knock as Quistis sat patiently, contemplating her words carefully. She had to get this killer caught. Andrew walked back into the living room, behind him two rather plump, arrogant looking cops.  
"One second." Andrew smiled at the two men, then ran into the kitchen, pulling two chairs to the living room for the cops. The men snorted and looked around the room lazily, sitting on the chairs as Andrew took his sat next to Quistis.  
"So urhhh.. Miss Trepe. Right now we have officials inside of your home cleaning and gathering evidence, if there is any, of this horrible murder. Tell us what you know now of this man or woman or what could've caused it. Do you know anyone who would do something like this or do you have anyone you're not very friendly with?" One of the chubby men asked gruffly.  
"Well, I really actually don't know anyone who would do something like this. I'm normally on good terms with all of my students in Balamb and I don't really have a social life outside of work, so I'm assuming this is a random killing to scare me." She said, nodding as she spoke. The men exchanged matching looks, then looked calmly back to Quistis.  
"Alright Miss Trepe. We're very sorry this happened to you." One of them plucked a walkie-talkie off his belt and held it to his mouth. "How's the search going, Dan? .... Alright, I'll get back to you later. Show me what you have so far. ....Oh, well that's not good. Bye." After he was finished, he slipped it back into a pocket on his belt and looked back at Quistis, his face concerned. "Well, they seem to have absolutely no evidence of who could've done it. But good news is, is that your house is clean and body-free. You can go home any time you like." He said, and stood up, along with the other cops. Quistis closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her finger tips.. A smart killer. Just what she wanted now.  
"I don't want to go home." She sighed heavily. "I just want to disappear."  
"Everyone feels that way sometimes. These things just take time getting over, it's alright. You can talk to me. At least it wasn't you in that vent, right?" Andrew reassured her softly, resting his hand on her shoulder. Quistis slid her hand over his and sniffed, tears welling in her stress-filled eyes.  
... Wait, how did he know the dead body was in her vent? She thought, but then stopped. They talked a long time, she was sure she'd mentioned it.  
Andrew got up from his place next to Quistis and offered his hand to her again.  
"I'll walk you home. If you still feel uneasy later, we can go out to dinner, if you want." He smiled at her and she smiled back. He didn't seem killer material. If he was a killer, she'd be long gone by now. She took his hand and he helped her to her feet with ease. He then grabbed a pen and a paper that was laying on a desk nearly and started jotting down his number.  
"Thanks for everything."


End file.
